Friday, 6 June 2008

Gallas is "Mr Reliable" for France, but is he "Mr Reliable" for Arsenal?

Reading Arsenal.com a French writer called Philippe Auclair said people in France see Gallas as "Mr Reliable" and an automatic choice for the French national side. He also says that Gallas plays better alongside a leader, someone like Thurum.

Now that doesn't make for good reading from a Gooner point of view. To say he plays better with a leader is slightly worrying. He is supposed to be the Arsenal leader. He is our captain.

Some Gooners have questioned Gallas's role as skipper at Arsenal. Some feel it was a good move. I felt it was a good choice by Le Boss and I still do.

For me William is a natural winner and that rubs off on the other players at Arsenal. It is especially good for the younger players to get that mentality early and for them to want to win. That's want we Gooners want, Arsenal to win.

People point to the situation at Birmingham and I feel that this also cause a split in Gooners views. Some felt he was pathetic and should no longer be captain. Others felt it showed how much he cared. I reckon it showed how much he cared. And lets not forget the emotions running through the players after the injury to Dudu.

I think when we signed Gallas in exchange for cAshley Cole and received £5 million we got the better deal by far. Gallas is a world-class defender, and I say defender because he can play anywhere at the back. Not just in the middle.

His partnership with Kolo hasn't gelled completely because they are very similar in style. But I wouldn't want to see either of them leave the club. They are too good to let go.

I don't think we have seen the best of Gallas yet, but I feel we will. Last season was a learning curve for him as captain and I think next season he will be a better captain for the experience. He can only improve in the role and I think he will, and will naturally become the next France captain as well.

He is Mr Reliable for France, not quite Mr Reliable for Arsenal, yet, but I can't see why he can't be in the future. As captain.

To be fair to Gallas, he is a lot better than Kolo Toure. In a world based on performance and ability, Toure would be the one to make way for our new powerhouse. That is not likely to happen because of how much we all love Toure.

I think Gallas is probably a better player than Toure, even though I think he is great. The problem is they are too similar, both are second defenders. They are not the guys who will win everything in the air, be a bit physical. They are both classy, ball playing centre halves. If we had Toure/Gallas alongside a Adams/Keown type we would be laughing.

Gallas is not as effective as you would like for the Arsenal defence, and he is certainly not a great captain. Until we can find an adequate replacement, let's keep him. Personally, i find him better as a left-back rather than a centre-back.